Ultrasmall mode volumes in dielectric optical microcavities

We theoretically demonstrate a mechanism for reduction of mode volume in high index contrast optical microcavities to below a cubic half wavelength. We show that by using dielectric discontinuities with subwavelength dimensions as a means of local field enhancement, the effective mode volume (V(eff)) becomes wavelength independent. Cavities with V(eff) on the order of 10(-2)(lambda/2n)(-3) can be achieved using such discontinuities, with a corresponding increase in the Purcell factor of nearly 2 orders of magnitude relative to previously demonstrated high index photonic crystal cavities.     

Engineering silicon-based photonic crystal cavities for NV-center quantum information processing

Silicon slab photonic crystal micro cavities designed for of-resonant coupling to nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers were simulated and fabricated. FDTD-simulations show the partial density of states spectrally near the NV-center electric dipole transition can be tuned to reduce decoherence of an excited NV-center despite this transition being above the silicon electronic band gap. The partial density of states at the NV-center transition can be made to dip below half of the free-space partial density of states without significantly affecting the cavity mode quality factor. These promising results sustain the merits of using silicon as a base photonic crystal material for quantum information processing even when integrated emitters radiate above the electronic band gap of silicon.     

Investigation of the Purcell effect in photonic crystal cavities with a 3D Finite Element Maxwell Solver

Photonic crystal cavities facilitate novel applications demanding the efficient emission of incoherent light. This unique property arises when combining a relatively high quality factor of the cavity modes with a tight spatial constriction of the modes. While spontaneous emission is desired in these applications the stimulated emission must be kept low. A measure for the spontaneous emission enhancement is the local density of optical states (LDOS). Due to the complicated three dimensional geometry of photonic crystal cavities the LDOS quantity has to be computed numerically. In this work, we present the computation of the LDOS by means of a 3D Finite Element (FE) Maxwell Solver. The solver applies a sophisticated symmetry handling to reduce the problem size and provides perfectly matched layers to simulate open boundaries. Different photonic crystal cavity designs have been investigated for their spontaneous emission enhancement by means of this FE solver. The simulation results have been compared to photoluminescence characterizations of fabricated cavities. The excellent agreement of simulations and characterizations results confirms the performance and the accuracy of the 3D FE Maxwell Solver.     

Spontaneous emission enhancement of quantum dots in a photonic crystal wire

Photonic wires are the simplest extended low-dimensional systems. Photonic crystal confinement confers them a divergent density of states at zero-group-velocity points, which leads to enhancement of spontaneous emission rates [D. Kleppner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 47, 233 (1981)10.1103/Phys. Rev. Lett. 47.233]. We experimentally evidence, for the first time, the spectral signature of these Purcell factor singularities, using the out-of-plane emission of InAs quantum dots buried in GaAs/AlGaAs based photonic crystal based wire. Additionally, in-plane collection at the wire exit shows large enhancements of the signal at some of the density of states singularities.     

High quality factor in a two-dimensional photonic crystal cavity on silicon-on-insulator

We propose a design for high quality factor two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal cavities on silicon-on-insulator (SOI). A quality factor of up to 1.2×10(7) with a modal volume of 2.35(λ/n)(3) is simulated. A very high quality factor of 200,000 is experimentally demonstrated for a 2D cavity fabricated on SOI.     

二维点缺陷正方光子晶体的微腔结构

通过平面波展开法对由Al₂O₃介质棒在空气背景介质中构成含有点缺陷的二维正方光子晶体微腔结构进行研究,计算得出缺陷态能带以及缺陷态模场分布。缺陷模对应的电磁波波长为470~476nm。对该微腔结构的品质因数的求解,得出缺陷态光谱曲线。在光谱曲线中,随着传输波长的增大,将产生几个峰值,并且在475nm处的波动最为明显,反映出在475nm附近的电磁波段在缺陷处的光强较大。进一步利用全矢量等效折射率法研究该结构缺陷模频率的稳定性,得出等效折射率的变化曲线。从等效折射率变化曲线可以看出,当传输波长达到475nm时,该结构已经达到稳定传输的区域。含缺陷模的二维光子晶体微腔结构在光子晶体发光二极管以及高阈值半导体激光器等方面有着重要的应用价值。     

优化电激励光子晶体单缺陷激光腔结构

设计和制作电激励光子晶体微腔激光器的一个困难是电流的注入问题,而且电流的路径时常会导致微腔的Q值降低。将三维并行时域有限差分方法用于电激励光子晶体单缺陷激光腔研究,给出了微腔的本征模式分布。根据模式特点,选择单极子模式作为研究对象。数值模拟表明,在保持C_(6v)对称性条件前提下,微调最靠近微腔中心的6个空气孔的位置使得单极子模式的光场分布在腔边缘发生缓慢变化可以将单极子模的Q值和Purcell因子提高大约7倍。即激光器阈值可以降低7倍。     

High-Q microfluidic cavities in silicon-based two-dimensional photonic crystal structures

We demonstrate postprocessed microfluidic double-heterostructure cavities in silicon-based photonic crystal slab waveguides. The cavity structure is realized by selective fluid infiltration of air holes using a glass microtip, resulting in a local change of the average refractive index of the photonic crystal. The microcavities are probed by evanescent coupling from a silica nanowire. An intrinsic quality factor of 57,000 has been derived from our measurements, representing what we believe to be the largest value observed in microfluidic photonic crystal cavities to date.     

局域态密度对表面等离激元特性影响的研究

表面等离激元是一种在金属与介质界面上激发并耦合电荷密度起伏的电磁振荡, 具有近场增强和短波长等特性, 在纳米光子学的研究中扮演重要角色. 将表面等离激元的效应用于单光子源的制备, 不但可以有效减小器件的体积, 而且可以有效提高单光子的辐射和收集效率. 本文根据表面等离激元的珀赛尔系数与光子态密度的关系, 采用局域态密度计算的方法, 分析了不同金属材料的局域态密度及珀赛尔系数的特性. 通过计算比较, 选择银为最佳金属材料, 并在此基础上讨论了探测距离和电介质材料对局域态密度和珀赛尔系数的影响, 为基于表面等离子激元的单光子源制备提供重要参数.     

基于宽度可调节的线缺陷平板型光子晶体的空气槽微腔

研究了一种空气槽光子晶体微腔,这种腔是由在平板型光子晶体上引入一条宽度可以调节的线缺陷空气槽形成的.腔模的电场被强烈局限在空气槽中,由于介电常量的不连续性,电场得到很大的提高,同时模体积被大大地降低.数值模拟与分析了微腔的能带结构和场分布,考虑到腔模的谐振频率和对称性,发现一阶偶膜同时具有较高的品质因子和较小的模体积;应用有限时域差分法,得到腔模的品质因子可以高达10⁶,模体积仅为0.02(λ/n)³.计算了一阶偶模谐振波长随空气槽宽度以及空气孔半径的变化,发现随着宽度的增加,波长越来越短.而随着空气孔半径的增加,波长近似线性地减小;当空气孔半径为170 nm时,可以获得最高的腔品质因子.     

圆柱形散射子二维光子晶体的态密度与局域态密度

二维光子晶体只有赝带隙,因此能否利用二维光子晶体有效控制原子自发辐射是令人感兴趣也是有实际意义的问题。其中最重要的因素是态密度和局域态密度的性质。采用平面波展开结合晶体群论的方法计算了二维正方格子光子晶体的态密度和局域态密度。其中散射子为空气圆柱,放置在均匀的电介质背景上。结果显示两个特点:第一,总态密度和局域态密度在原来二维光子晶体赝带隙处虽然已经不为零,但是取值明显低于赝带隙范围之外的值,即存在一个准光子带隙。第二,局域态密度在空气散射子界面处发生突变,空气散射子区域的局域态密度相对较大,这可由电位移矢量的连续性来理解。由于这两个特点在其他二维光子晶体中也被发现过,它们可能是普遍存在的。     

基于宽度可调节的线缺陷平板型光子晶体的空气槽微腔

研究了一种空气槽光子晶体微腔,这种腔是由在平板型光子晶体上引入一条宽度可以调节的线缺陷空气槽形成的,腔模的电场被强烈局限在空气槽中,由于介电常量的不连续性,电场得到很大的提高,同时模体积被大大地降低.数值模拟与分析了微腔的能带结构和场分布,考虑到腔模的谐振频率和对称性,发现一阶偶膜同时具有较高的品质因子和较小的模体积;应用有限时域差分法,得到腔模的品质因子可以高达106,模体积仅为0.02(λ/n)3.计算了一阶偶模谐振波长随空气槽宽度以及空气孔半径的变化,发现随着宽度的增加,波长越来越短.而随着空气孔半径的增加,波长近似线性地减小;当空气孔半径为170 nm时,可以获得最高的腔品质因子.     

Mapping the local density of optical states of a photonic crystal with single quantum dots

We use single self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots as internal probes to map the local density of optical states of photonic crystal membranes. The employed technique separates contributions from nonradiative recombination and spin-flip processes by properly accounting for the role of the exciton fine structure. We observe inhibition factors as high as 70 and compare our results to local density of optical states calculations available from the literature, thereby establishing a quantitative understanding of photon emission in photonic crystal membranes.     

On the use of Purcell factors for plasmon antennas

The Purcell factor is the standard figure of merit for spontaneous emission enhancement in microcavities and has also been proposed to describe emission enhancements for plasmonic resonances. A comparison of quality factor, mode volume, and Purcell factor for single and coupled plasmon spheres to exact calculations of emission rates shows that a Purcell factor derived from quality factor and mode volume does not describe emission changes due to plasmon antennas.     

光子晶体在半导体激光器中的应用

激光的发明，将人类带入光通信、光存储、光显示的高科技文明中，随着高科技的不断发展、进步和应用范围的不断扩大，对激光的要求更高，例如低阈值、高效率、高亮度、高速、小体积、好的模式特性等，这些要求在现有的传统激光器理论及技术中是难以达到的。但是当人们将光子晶体的理论与现有激光物理和技术相结合时，则有望突破传统激光器的性能瓶颈。例如，提高自发辐射速率，同时获得更高的自发辐射向受激辐射的耦合效率，实现激光器的无阈值工作；利用光子晶体对光子态的调制作用，可以获得比传统激光器大几个数量级的光学腔品质因子，大幅度提高激光的亮度、单色性；结合光子晶体微腔及其显著增加的光学腔品质因子，可以提高激光器的调制速率等，因此，人们预期光子晶体科学与技术将成为未来光电子领域发展的核心之一。文章介绍了光子晶体在半导体激光器中的应用，指出光子晶体科学技术引入发展了几十年的半导体激光器中，使半导体激光器展现出更加优异的性能。最后文章作者展望了光子晶体激光器的未来发展和应用的方向。     

改进型混合表面等离子体微腔激光器的研究

设计了一种拥有增益介质脊和空气间隙的改进型混合表面等离子体微腔激光器,并在微腔的两端面镀一层50 nm厚的银反射镜,有效地提高了纳米激光器的性能.基于COMSOL Multiphysics软件分别构建二维截面和三维立体模型,在1550 nm的工作波长下对该改进型结构的传输性能以及微腔性能进行分析.结果表明:该激光器具有显著的亚波长限制能力和很大的传输距离,最长距离可以达到1.29 mm.测试该激光器的微腔性能时,通过调整结构参数获得了高质量因子、低增益阈值以及深亚波长下的超小有效模式体积0.001092μm~3和超高的Purcell因子8.29×10~5.与先前结构对比,在结构参数统一时,所设计的结构具有更低的激光激射阈值和更强的微腔局域能力.所设计的改进型混合表面等离子体微腔激光器可以作为各种光子器件的基本构建模块,并可应用于传感、纳米聚焦和纳米激光等领域.     

Silicon nano-membrane based photonic crystal microcavities for high sensitivity bio-sensing

We experimentally demonstrated photonic crystal microcavity based resonant sensors coupled to photonic crystal waveguides in silicon nano-membrane on insulator for chemical and bio-sensing. Linear L-type microcavities are considered. In contrast to cavities with small mode volumes, but low quality factors for bio-sensing, we showed increasing the length of the microcavity enhances the quality factor of the resonance by an order of magnitude and increases the resonance wavelength shift while retaining compact device characteristics. Q~26760 and sensitivity down to 15 ng/ml and ~110 pg/mm2 in bio-sensing was experimentally demonstrated on silicon-on-insulator devices.     

Positioning photonic crystal cavities to single InAs quantum dots

We have investigated the optical properties of planar photonic crystal cavities formed by removing a single hole from a two-dimensional square lattice of air holes etched through a thin GaAs slab. We have demonstrated cavity resonances with quality factors (Q’s) as high as 8500, using an internal light source provided by an ensemble of InAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The high-Q modes are confined to a very small mode volume, V = 0.7(λ/n)³, making them attractive to study in the context of cavity quantum electrodynamics with single QDs, where a high is needed to observe the strong coupling between an electronic state of the dot and the optical cavity mode. To this end, we have developed an accurate and robust alignment technique that positions a photonic crystal cavity to a single QD with 25 nm resolution. We present the details of this new technology and demonstrate its effectiveness by strategically positioning a number of QDs within photonic crystal cavities at points where the electric field intensity is high.     

Controlling spontaneous emission with the local density of states of honeycomb photonic crystals

We calculated the local density of state for various positions in a photonic crystal of honeycomb lattice to study how the spontaneous emission rate of a radiating dipole is altered in the presence of the photonic crystal. The local density of states is found to be position-sensitive and its value can be enhanced or depressed relative to the density of states, depending on the location of the dipole. Our study shows that the density of states tends to underestimate the effect of a photonic crystal on the prohibition of light propagation, while on the contrary tends to overestimate the effect on the enhancement of light emission. The calculations also indicate that it is possible to tailor the spontaneous emission of an active medium by careful selecting its location in the photonic crystal. The results are helpful in determining the insertion location of the active medium and in evaluating the efficiency of active photonic crystal devices such as light-emitting diodes or lasers.     

Stimulated emission from two-dimensional nested rectangle photonic crystal fibers

In this paper, we use the theory of spontaneous emission of two-level atoms embedded in photonic crystals. The unavoidable existence of a localized field with a defect mode and its basic properties are confirmed, which enables one to study the inherent laws of spontaneous emission from doped media. We combine the theory of spontaneous emission with numerical simulation for studying stimulated emission in a doped localized field and conditions for increasing the emission. The inherent laws for the cases where transmissivity is larger than unity and the negative imaginary part of the complex refractive index in doped compound lattices appears are also studied. The analysis of two-dimensional nested rectangle photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) with and without active impurities was performed using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. We find that, when active impurities are introduced into photonic crystal fibers, the negative imaginary part of the complex refractive index appears and the doped mode with high quality factor and great mode density occurs in the photonic forbidden band, thus amplifying substantially the stimulated emission.